Paul Davis

New boy Darnell Fisher will provide competition for both full-back spots after joining Rotherham United on a three-year deal from Scottish giants Celtic.

Boss Alan Stubbs is delighted to land the 22-year-old who will now do battle with right-back Stephen Kelly and left-back Joe Mattock for a Millers starting role.

“He is very athletic,” Stubbs said. “He is a modern-day full-back. He is very quick. He will get up the pitch.”

The arrival of the Reading-born youngster for an undisclosed fee might not be the only transfer business Rotherham do this week.

“We are waiting to hear back on potentially another one or two,” Stubbs confirmed.

Fisher, who operates primarily on the right, played for Celtic when Neil Lennon was in charge and spent last season on loan at fellow Scottish Premier League outfit St Johnstone.

“He has played at Celtic and it is a huge club,” Stubbs said. “We have given him an opportunity to come here and fight for a place and push Kells. He has played left-back, he’s normally a right-back.”

The new Millers manager is ready to let players leave on loan to free up room for extra signings.

“Since I have come in, I have learned very quickly what I’ve got,” he said. “I know what I need to do, I know where I need to strengthen.

“There may be one or two leaving between now and the end of the window, and that might help me bring in even more than I was intending to bring in. We have to improve.”

Stubbs was unhappy with his side’s defensive display as they were knocked out of the EFL Cup in the first round 5-4 by League Two Morecambe at AESSEAL New York Stadium on Tuesday.

Centre-half Kelvin Wilson, signed last week on a one-year deal, was taken off at half-time after giving a goal away six minutes into his debut, but Stubbs says the pre-game plan was to substitute the defender who is short of match fitness.

“Kelvin was always going to come off. We wanted to get 45 minutes into him and we felt that it was better to do it from the start rather than at half-time,” he said.

”As a player, it is much better to do it from the start. That was always going to be the case. I think he will feel much better for it. He is still not where we want him to be in terms of match sharpness.

“Ideally, we’d like to get at least another couple of games into him because he hasn’t done a pre-season and a lot of other players have probably played four games. He has played 45 minutes so it wouldn’t be fair to judge him on that.

“We have lost the game. We will analyse it and will go through where we can improve.”